In the 1950s, when Atlanta Falcons owner and Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank grew up in a cramped one-bedroom apartment in the Sunnyside section of Queens — “My parents slept in a pull-out bed in the foyer,” he recalled — his family still managed to contribute to a puskhe. Jewish families put their pennies and nickels (and maybe even dimes!) in that familiar little charity collection can with a slot. And spare change, the 74-year-old billionaire said, “was a lot of money then.”

Ugly chants at European soccer games suggest a rise of anti-Semitism. But, according to former New York Times sportswriter Gerald Eskenazi, sports fans and anti-Jewish prejudice have a long history together.